Preview: What to Expect From Gonzaga MBB in the 2025-26 Season
Last season landed in unfamiliar territory for Gonzaga men’s basketball. The Bulldogs didn’t make the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2016, falling to No.1 Houston 81-76 in the Round of 32. The defeat ended the Zags’ streak of nine consecutive appearances in the second weekend of March Madness, the longest streak in the country at the time.
Five seniors graduated, including star guard Ryan Nembhard , who now is in the NBA with the Dallas Mavericks. First Team All-WCC selection Nolan Hickman, who was recently drafted by the Washington Wizards’ G-League affiliate Capital City Go-Go, is also off to play professionally. Three players also transferred, leaving plenty of spots open for Mark Few to fill on his roster.
The 2024-25 Bulldogs were flawed, even with Braeden Smith playing as well as a primary ball-handler as you could hope, and phenomenal individual seasons from its starting lineup. But Gonzaga took a massive step back defensively, causing them to commit lapses in the waning moments of games, leading to numerous eye-wrenching losses during the season. And even with having capable creators and scorers offensively, things weren’t always executed cohesively down the stretch when the Zags needed a basket.
They went down to the wire with a Cougars team that wound up going to the National Championship game, albeit falling to Florida. But even with Gonzaga’s competitiveness in their final contest of the year, the same issues plagued them in the five-point loss that showed throughout the season.
GU now heads into the 2025-26 season with one of the most experienced rosters in college basketball, having nine players who are at least 21 years old. The AP ranked Gonzaga No. 21 in its preseason Top 25 poll, the Zags’ lowest rank since 2012, where they came in at the same spot. Before last season, GU was slotted at No. 6 and reached as high as No. 3 early in the schedule, before steadily falling as games piled up until the back end of the year. In the WCC coaches’ poll, the Bulldogs were predicted to win the WCC for the second straight season, after downing Saint Mary’s in the championship game last season.
They will once again undergo a difficult non-conference schedule, preparing to earn their stripes and be battle-tested before conference play begins. Preseason All-WCC selectees Graham Ike and Braden Huff are set to embark on their first full season starting together, with their production and play dictating how far the Zags can go in the end.
To those familiar with GU, there seems to be either heavy optimism or fear – depending on who you root for – as the Zags are the favorites to punch a ticket to the NCAA tournament via hoisting the West Coast title. But nationally, there is question and doubt on the auxiliary pieces on the roster and the new faces donning the Bulldogs jersey.
In the offseason, an emphasis on adding quality perimeter defense was apparent. Senior Jalen Warley, who redshirted last season, is expected to see an increased role. Returnee Emmanuel Innocenti emerged as one of the better defenders in the nation and will likely earn more starts in his junior campaign. Tyon Grant-Foster is a transfer from GCU, and after getting his eligibility situation sorted out, the 25-year-old forward is primed to be a major impact for Gonzaga on both ends.
With these players being heralded for their defense, a thing to watch will be if they can take leaps offensively, specifically shooting-wise, but they embody the team’s vision of playing faster, constantly moving, and scoring in transition.
The Zags lost their two best three-point shooters from last season, Nembhard and Hickman, who both shot over 40 percent, leaving Ike as the best long-range threat returner after he knocked threes down at a 39 percent clip on 33 attempts. After experiencing season-ending injuries before each of the last two seasons, Steele Venters is finally set to make his debut as a Bulldog. The 6-7 guard brings the ability to stretch the floor, along with sharpshooting Adam Miller, who transferred from Arizona State after shooting nearly 43 percent from beyond the arc.
The half-court offense is sure to look a lot different. with different players initiating the offense. Braeden Smith got a front-row seat to Nembhard’s 9.8 assists per game, the top mark in college basketball. And he has shown to be a very capable point guard in his own right, winning the Patriot League MVP with Colgate in the 2023-24 season, averaging 12.3 points and 5.6 assists that year.
But he won’t be the only one running the show, as true freshman Mario Saint-Supéry has also shown an ability to play at a high level. After playing professionally in Spain for four seasons, including a run with the country’s EuroBasket team this past summer, Saint-Supéry can help take the pressure off Smith when needed, as the Zags have experimented with double point-guard lineups and rotating the two players to maintain offensive consistency.
Davis Fogle is another first-year player who has been ready for the moment, earning playing time with his aggressiveness and effort, while sophomore big man Ismaila Diagne looks to take a step forward coming off the bench behind Ike and Huff.
There will likely be more cutting and off-ball movement, as the Zags won’t want to fall into the same stagnation they experienced previously when they held possession. Few wants his team to play faster this year, prioritizing getting out in transition and being relentless on both sides of the floor to turn defense into offense.
Growing pains could be in the cards early on, as although the team is experienced, the non-Ike and Huff minutes can be the difference between wins and losses. In true-game situations, there isn’t much familiarity between the players on the roster, and meshing together, mainly offensively, will be a big development. Gonzaga will face the likes of No. 9 Kentucky, No. 15 Alabama, and No. 23 Creighton in its non-conference slate, all huge tests that can have determining impacts down the road.
The floor is customarily high with the expectation being to win the WCC in the Bulldogs’ final season before moving to the Pac-12 in 2026-27. But the ceiling of this squad remains to be seen, hinging on the Zags’ new additions and uncertain commodities.
